WEIMER: Tree best after Christmas

Do you like your tree this year? Or are you one of the people who already has an artificial tree that is all decorated, lights and all on it, so you just take it out of the box every Christmas.

You are the smart one. You might rearrange the ornaments each year to give it a different look, but every year you have the perfect tree.

Then there are those (yours truly) who can't seem to accept an artificial tree. Ours has to be a natural tree and each year we go seeking the perfect one.

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Each year I try to save the tag that comes on the tree telling me what kind it is so I can either remember to get or not get that kind the following year.

I don't go and pick out and cut down my tree, I go and select one from what has already been cut. It has become a ritual each year to pick out just the right tree every year. The task has become my job because all those who go with me get impatient with me. When I see all of the trees lined up I lose all perspective.

It isn't the fault of the people where we buy the tree, they have all beautiful trees.

Prior selections have been somewhat disastrous. One year I came home with a tree so tall it had to be cut off in order to fit in the house. It took up a large portion of the living room and furniture had to be removed in order for people to get around it. That didn't happen again.

I have gotten better. Now, I ask advice from the proprietor regarding the height and circumference even though I am looking at it. Sometimes when you get the tree home the branches bend down so that the tree has more fullness than at the tree farm.

One year I remember, not only was the trunk so crooked that the whole tree stood at an angle, but the branches were also hit and miss so that no matter what position you put it in, there was excess open space. That was the year I promised myself I would be more selective.

Some people really don't care; a tree is a tree. No matter what shape it is, it's beautiful when it's decorated. Why can't I use that theory?

I'm not alone. We know of one couple last year that, after the tree was up, trimmed and lighted, they went out and bought another tree because they were so disappointed in the first one.

I could never go through the ordeal a second time, especially the very next night. That takes stamina.

I'm thinking of all this as I sit gazing at my tree following Christmas Day. I always enjoy my tree after the big day. I can sit and enjoy it without the pressure of all the things that needed doing before Christmas. The frenzy, pressure, anxiety of all that needed doing is over.

As you can guess, the tree is my main "thing" in decorations for the holidays. I enjoy it after Christmas, I can play the songs of the season, the favorites that are mine, look at the ornaments that have come down through the ages with memories and Christmases of days gone by and the stories behind so many of them. At our house the Christmas tree doesn't get put up until either the eve of Christmas Eve or on Christmas Eve.